Quicksand
by Explosive
Summary: A Yamashiro story about secret longing and unstable ground. Moderate yaoi content, so take heed.
1. The first part

This story has some moderate Yaoi content, so be advised. It's Yamashiro. Hold on to something, cuz here we go!  
  
Oh wait, I guess I have to give the disclaimer first. I don't own Digimon. Ok, now we're ready. You'll like this one, it's sweet and honest (I think).  
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Again Izzy's computer screen read: UNABLE TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION. Frustrated, banged on his keyboard. It was an hour ago that he had received a message from Gennai that sounded quite urgent. It was halfway through that Gennai's voice started to break up, and his picture suddenly cut off. It didn't appear that it was through any interferance caused by Piedmon or any of the other Dark Masters, but a simple loss of connection.   
  
"Can't you do anything about it?" Tai demanded.  
  
"I'm doing the best I can Tai but I can't seem to establish a connection." Izzy replied as he worked feverishly.   
  
"Well you'll have to try harder Izzy, we have to know what Gennai had to tell us!" Tai shouted. He was in his hot-blooded leader mode now.   
  
"Well I'm doing the best I can Tai but you're just going to have to wait." Izzy replied, feeling very stressed out but trying his best to keep his cool.  
  
"We need you to fix this Izzy, we don't know what kind of danger Gennai, or all of us might be in!"  
  
"Hey Tai, calm down, he's doing the best that he can." Sora said, putting her hand on his shoulder. Tai shrugged it off and sat down next to Izzy. He was looking at the screen like he would try to solve the problem himself, although everyone there knew that he couldn't make heads or tales of it.  
  
"Ok, here's my theory. We just need to get to higher ground where the signal will be stronger. There we should be able to get back online with Gennai and find out what he had to say." Izzy said calmly, knowing that no one was going to completely like his suggestion.  
  
"Um, am I alone here, or does anyone else think that's sort of dangerous?" Joe said nervously.  
  
"What do you mean?" Mimi asked him.  
  
"Well...". Joe proceded. "If we leave our cover and move to a higher point, we'll be sitting ducks. They'll spot us for sure!"  
  
"He's got a point." Sora remarked.  
  
"Well then we all can't go, Izzy will just have to go alone." Tai decided.  
  
"Were you going to ask him what he thought about that?" Matt said. He had been pretty quiet until now but seemed to have had enough of Tai's orders.  
  
"Ok then. I'll go and do it." Tai declared. "Tell me how to work this Izzy."  
  
"It's not that simple Tai. You'd have to run a search for a new dial-up location and the hack into the mainframe. It's just like in our world, you can't just utilize a service without paying for it unless you know how to break in." Izzy tried to explain.  
  
"Well, you're going to have to show me how." Tai said.  
  
Izzy didn't know what to do. This was going to be very complicated but he would have to try. "Ok, you start by opening the control panel and clicking on modems..."  
  
"Whoa! Hey! Slow down Izzy, I'm no computer wiz. What the heck is a window?" Tai laughed. It wasn't funny though since Izzy knew he was being serious.  
  
"Tai, I can't show you how to do this. It's too complicated." Izzy sighed. "I'll have to do it myself."  
  
"No way. You're not going up there, it's too dangerous." Tai said. "C'mon, show me how to do this."  
  
"Tai, I can't..." Izzy said impatiently.  
  
Suddenly Tai grabbed him by the shirt. "Yes you can! Now show me or we'll never know what Gennai needed to tell us and who knows what will happen!?" Tai shouted. Sora and Matt grabbed him and tried to pull him off of Izzy.  
  
"Tai, what's wrong with you?" Matt screamed.  
  
"Hey, don't hurt him!" Sora shouted. They pulled him off and restrained him. A minute later Tai sat down defeated. It must have been hard for him to realize that there was nothing he could do in this situation, Izzy thought.   
  
"Look, there has to be another way." Matt stated to the group. "Just give Izzy a little more time and he'll figure it out, Ok?" He put his hand on Izzy's shoulder. Izzy liked that, it gave him reassurance that at least someone knew he did what he could, and appreciated his efforts.  
  
"Matt, we don't have much more time. We need to get that message and fast." Tai responded to him. He was a little calmer now and more reasonable, but still seemed to think there was only one way to do something: his way.  
  
"It could be any number of things, maybe even the weather. I just don't have enough information right now to tell." Izzy said. It wasn't the weather, in fact it was a perfect day. He just had to tell them something.  
  
"If Izzy has to go up there then I'm going with him." Matt said.  
  
"The more people go the better chance you'll have of being seen." Sora said.  
  
"We should wait until it gets later.", Joe said. "It will be harder to see at dusk." He had a point.  
  
"Ok then, let's camp here for now. We need to do this soon though." Tai said. It seemed like the only thing they could do now so they found some trees and sat down. Joe and Mimi searched their bags for food which they shared with Kari and T.K.. Tai and Sora left the campsite with the Digimon to a small stream to catch fish They had passed it shortly before stopping when Izzy's computer gave the signal that Gennai was trying to contact them. It was only Izzy and Matt sitting where they had stopped, still trying to think of a solution.  
  
"I've just about had it with Tai, trying to be all tough and push you around." Matt told him. He was still fired up after pulling Tai off Izzy.   
  
"Don't worry about it Matt, he's just got our best interests in mind." Izzy told him, still typing on his computer.  
  
"Yeah, I know." Matt said. "What do you think about all this?"  
  
"I don't know. I can't seem to find what the problem is." Izzy answered. He felt like he was letting everyone down. If he couldn't use his knowledge of computers to help them then what good was he?  
  
"Hey Izzy...you look like under a lot of stress. Don't let this get to you, ok?" Matt said. Izzy looked up and saw him staring into his eyes. "I believe in you man, one way or another you'll figure it out, and even if you don't we're still going to get through this, as long as we stick together." Matt was so sincere and always seemed to be there for him, giving him encouragement whenever he was down. Izzy really had strong feelings for him but never knew how to express them. He was getting better at sharing himself with his friends but still, there were certain things he couldn't tell them, things he couldn't share that were always getting in the way.  
  
"Thanks Matt, it...it means a lot to me that you care." Izzy said. He felt uncomfortable being honest like that, but then again, he wasn't being totally honest with Matt. Not with how he really felt about him.  
  
"Hey, we're friends. I'll be there for you whenever you need me. We've been through a lot together and a little computer trouble isn't going to stop us." said Matt. Izzy loved his pretty blue eyes. He was so cute. There was no way he could ever tell him that though, Matt wasn't like that.   
  
"Good friends?" Izzy asked him.  
  
"Yeah man. No matter what." Matt reassured him, slapping him on the back, His hand rested on Izzy's shoulder for a second. That was all he needed. Izzy knew he had to tell him sometime. Why not now?  
  
"Hey Matt?" Izzy nervously asked him.  
  
"What is it?" Matt asked him. He stared though Izzy's eyes.  
  
"I gotta tell you something...ok?"   
  
"Go ahead, I'm listening."  
  
"Matt. I...I really..." Izzy's sentence was interrupted by a scream. It was T.K.'s. Matt took off running to where he had been sitting with Sora, Kari, Joe and Mimi. Izzy could see that from a distance it was only the group holding T.K. down and tickling him. Matt didn't notice until he reached them, at which point he got down on the ground and joined in the torture himself. Izzy watched the group from the stump he was sitting on, unable to make himself get up and join the happy group. How much longer could he go without telling Matt? Everytime he was about to tell him something or someone would interrupt their private moment. It semed like it was destined to happen every time.  
  
Izzy closed up his laptop and slid it back into his backpack. He stood up and looked at the hill. It would take about 15 minutes to reach the top, he estimated, and there was a group of trees at the top where he could seclude himself. He was the only one who could fix the problem, so why was everyone even arguing about it. Izzy looked back at the others, still having their way with Matt's brother, and decided it was up to him. He threw his laptop back over his shoulders and dashed off into the woods.  
  



	2. The second part

This is the second and final chapter to "Quicksand", a Yamashiro Yaoi. There's a lot more of it here, but I really don't see any need for an R rating. If PG-13 isn't high enough tell me in a review and I'll change it. Also honestly tell me what you think of it. I hope you like it. Also IDOD. (IDOD=I don't own Digimon.)  
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Izzy rushed through the forest, branches occasionally brushing against his face roots occasionally tripping him up. He was extremely careful not to fall though, if his computer broke they would all be without use of one of the tools that had proved essential to their survival in this world. It was hard to see where he was going now, but he knew he was going in the right direction. Anytime now the trees would start thinning out and the ground would slope upward. The urgency to contact Gennai, which everyone was counting on him to do, along with the frustration caused by his feelings toward Matt, made him push harder and faster toward his goal.  
  
No one seemed to understand how he felt. Then again, no one ever asked. It seemed enough for everyone to keep to themselves and lash out whenever anyone tried to get close to them. By now everyone had come to the conclusion that he was just a computer geek and naturally quiet. If they only knew, Izzy thought. He knew he was an introverted person, but he truely wanted to reach out to others and get to know them intimately. He wanted them, needed them to do the same to him, but it seemed like an emotion no one else shared. He didn't dislike Tai or his leadership, he saw it as necessary for their survival, but wished that he would slow down and just be his friend for once. Mimi and Joe never stopped complaining to have a decent conversation with him. They were nice, but seemed just as socially messed up as him, in different ways, of course. T.K. and Kari were cute kids, but that's all they were to Izzy. He needed friends his own age, like Sora. She was so sweet and understanding, but he could never get close to her. Tai was always hanging on her, and it was obvious to everyone that he really liked her, everyone but Sora, that is. So he kept at it every day. "Man, Tai's a good guy", Izzy thought, "I shouldn't be so hard on him."  
  
Matt was different from everyone though. He never lost his cool except when fighting with Tai. He looked out for his brother and would do anything for him. He usually kept to himself and seemed to be depressed a lot. They had that in common, as well as other things. They shared a common confusion about their relationship with their parents. Matt's mom and dad had a bad divorce a few years ago, and Izzy's had died in a car accident when he was very young. There had been times they had talked about it together, and Izzy always felt better afterwards. He hoped that Matt felt the same way. They had also found their crests together, the only two of the group to find theirs in the same place. Was there any reason their crests, symbolizing knowledge and friendship, were together at the bottom of that well? Izzy hadn't seen any connection yet...  
  
He didn't know when he first had feelings for Matt, but it was wasn't long after they had arrived in the Digiworld. He knew him for a short time at camp but didn't get to talk to him much. There was just something about him, his sensitivity, his looks, his understanding...he was just such a good listener and always the voice of reason. Without his objections Tai might have lead them off the edge of a cliff many times. It wasn't like they were enemies though, whenever they weren't fighting they acted like best friends. He was a really loving person too. T.K. seemed like his world. If anything happened to him...Izzy shuddered to think what Matt might do. And what would he do without Matt? How could he tell him how he felt? What would Matt say? There was no way that he felt the same, Izzy thought, but he had to tell him, no matter what the consequences to their friendship would be.   
  
The trees began thinning out ahead of him, and soon Izzy reached an area relatively clear of them. Beyond this open space was the hill which wouldn't take long to climb. He wondered if anyone had even noticed he was gone as he ran through the clearing. It wasn't easy going, as there were plenty of muddy patches of ground. Besides getting his shoes a little dirty he was almost to the hill, when he stopped. Ahead of him was a large mudpit that looked very unstable. He'd have to walk around it, he thought, as he surveyed the small mountain in front of him. He tried to pick up his feet but found them lodged in the soft earth. Izzy looked down and saw that his feet were slowly sinking into the ground. He pulled his right foot out but put all his weight on his left, watching as it sank down into the mud. He was stuck up to his ankle in it and tried his hardest to pull himself out. His right foot sank just as deep as his left, which was even deeper now.  
  
This ground certainly wasn't stable, he thought. He squirmed in the mud but couldn't get free. Izzy pumped his legs as hard as he could to get out, but instead of getting himself out, he only managed to sink up to his knees in the mud.   
  
"Ok Izzy..." he said to himself. He knew he was panicking whenever he would talk to himself. "This is quicksand. Don't struggle or you'll just sink faster." He looked around for something to grab onto and saw a small tree about six feet away. He reached for it but it was well out of his grasp. What could he do? Izzy's mind raced and he got an idea. He took his backpack holding his laptop off. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, I can swing this onto one of the branches and pull myself out. His knowledge about quicksand wasn't holding out though, since he continued sinking. He was almost up to his thighs in the thick mud now.  
  
"Alright, here goes nothing.." He undid one of the straps on his bag and held onto it tight. He swung his bag in the air and watched as it miraculously caught onto the tree branch by it's other strap. It seemed secure and Izzy pulled on it. Little by little it seemed like his body was being pulled from the muck. The mud was loosening it grip on him when all of a sudden Izzy heard a dreadful noise. The branch was cracking. With one last tug Izzy tried to pull himself out, but instead the brach finally gave, and Izzy's laptop fell harmlessly to the ground. His body sank back into the mud, and he was now up to his waist in the quicksand. He was exhausted and trapped.   
  
"Help!" he screamed. No one can hear me, he thought. Why did he have to go off by himself? He should have listened to Tai, he always knew better. He struggled in the mud, trying to get out, but it was no use. He was almost up to his chest in the quagmire now, and it seemed only like it was a matter of time. He felt like crying knowing he'd never get to say goodbye to anyone, not to any of his friends or the Digimon, not to his adoptive parents who loved him so much, not to Tentomon, not to Matt... They'd probably look for him, but they'd never find him. He started to cry...this was the end.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Izzy!"   
  
He recognized that voice. It was Matt! He blinked back the tears and saw him running from across the clearing.  
  
"Matt I'm over here!" he yelled. "Be careful there's quicksand everywhere!"  
  
Matt ran to him and carefully tested the ground in between them. He got down on his stomach and streched out to Izzy. "Grab my hand!" he pleaded.  
  
Izzy stretched and took Matt's hand. He was up to his armpits in the mud and wondered if there was anything Matt could do. He didn't want to pull Matt in with him either. He took Matt's hand and tried to pull himself out. He could feel the muscles in Matt's arms flexing as his friend pulled with all of his might. The ground Matt was on stayed firm, and Izzy could feel his body slowly coming free from the mud. He felt the mud let go of the soles of his shoes as he was almost out to his waist.  
  
"Don't let go of me!" Matt yelled as he pulled. Izzy was too tired and too afraid to say anything back. Soon he could move his feet and kicked free of the mud. His body was completely out now, and Matt pulled him to solid ground. The two friends laid on the ground, out of breath. Izzy's body was caked in mud.  
  
"Why...why did you...why'd you run off like that?" Matt asked him, out of breath.  
  
"I had to get to the top of the hill." Izzy replied, just as tired and still shaken. "I had to contact Gennai."  
  
Matt looked at Izzy's backpack lying on the ground next to them. "Why didn't you wait? I would have gone with you." They sat on the ground and caught their breath for a minute.  
  
"Matt, you saved my life." Izzy said.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so." Matt replied. "I don't know what I would have done without you."  
  
Those words made Izzy's heart skip a beat. "Matt...I love you."  
  
Matt looked up at him. "Yeah, I know...I love you too Izz." he said with a smile. It was hard to know what he meant by that. Did he really mean it, and if he did, just how? "Izzy..." Matt slowly began to say as he brushed his blond hair out of his eyes.  
  
"Yeah Matt?" Izzy looked up hopefully.  
  
"I...really love you...you...you know what I mean...when I saw that you were gone I had to go and try to find you...I don't know what I would have done if I lost you..." Matt said, trailing off. Izzy couldn't believe his ears. Did Matt really mean it? There was only one way to find out. Matt looked down like he was already regretting telling him.  
  
"Matt?" Izzy asked him, inching his way closer. Matt didn't say anything. "You mean all that?"  
  
Matt looked up, maybe a little suprised. "Yeah...I do."  
  
"I've wanted to tell you for so long that...that I feel the same way." Izzy said. Matt's expression changed from that of dread to total suprise.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Matt asked.  
  
"I..I don't know. I thought you wouldn't feel the same way." Izzy said. They stared at each other for a minute as they laid on the ground together. Izzy moved closer to Matt, so close that his muddy body was almost touching Matt's. He slowly leaned closer to him and was suprised to see that Matt was doing the same. Their lips touched and they kissed. It was something that he'd wanted to do for the longest time, but it was better than he'd ever dreamed as he looked into those pretty blue eyes that he'd dreamed about. Matt smiled and put his hands around Izzy when suddenly they heard Izzy's laptop beeping. It was good to hear that somehow Gennai had found them, but why now? Reluctantly, Izzy pulled away from Matt and opened his laptop.  
  
"Hello Izzy?" It was Gennai.  
  
"Yes Gennai? We got a message from you before but you got cut off." Izzy replied to him.  
  
"Yeah, are you ok?" Matt asked him.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about me...it's just that my cable seems to be out and I can't get HBO to come in. Do you think that you could..." That was all that he got to say as Izzy shut his laptop screen and put his computer back in his bag.  
  
"Well, that's Gennai for you..." Matt said cooly. Even after this he could still keep his sense of humor. Izzy nudged up against him and Matt put his arm around him. "What are we going to do now?" he asked.  
  
"Well, I guess whatever we want." Izzy realized. "You know, I could use another kiss. Who knows when we'll be alone again?"  
  
"Well, I think there will be other times..." Matt said as he pulled Izzy back to him and pecked him on the cheek. "Just promise you'll be there for me? Ok."  
  
Izzy looked him in the eyes. "Always Matt. You know that." They kissed again. "Should we tell everyone else?"  
  
"Maybe later. No need to right now." Matt put his hand on Izzy's shoulder and Izzy laid his head on Matt's. They sat quietly until they watched the sun set, when they got up and walked hand-in-hand back to their camp. Everyone ran to them, asking them where they were and why they were so muddy. They told them what happened, all except for certain things that they chose to keep to themselves. Izzy and Matt now knew why they found their crests together, and knew that no matter what happened to them, they would always have a friend to reach out to. As everyone slept that night Matt and Izzy laid next to each other.  
  
"I love you Izzy." Matt said quietly, his blue eyes sparkling from the light of their fire.  
  
"I love you too Matt." Izzy whispered. For the first time since he came to the Digiworld he fell asleep happy, knowing that the boy he loved secretly for so long now knew the truth, and that he loved him back just as much. 


End file.
